Handle for steam-valves



(No Model.) 7 V R. MGKEEVER.

HANDLE FOR STEAM. VALVES- Patented Nov. 3, 1896.

Ewen/'60 7": 12 06 776 .WIzeven H M w W a" 0 w m w m UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

' ROBERT MOKEEVER, OF ALBURTIS, PENNSYLVANIA.

HAN DL'E FOR STEAM-VALVES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 570,764, dated November 3, 1896. Application filed February 3, 1896. Serial No. 577,925. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, ROBERT McKEEvER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Alburtis, in the county of Lehigh, State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Handles for Steam- Valves, &c., of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in handles for gagecocks or steam-valves or the like where they are subjected to continued intense heat 5 and it has for its object, among others, to provide a simple, cheap, and durable handle which may be readily applied to the stems in any desired manner.

In carrying out myinvention I take a plurality of sheets or layers of leather, vulcanized fiber, or other indurate material, and secure them together in any suitable manner, and give to them the proper shape, or I may form the same of a single layer or sheet of the material of proper thickness. The handle thus formed is applied to the stem of the valve or cook in any suitable manner. A sheet or layer of asbestos may be employed between the disk or plate of the stem to which the handle is secured and the adjacent face of the material of the handle, thereby greatly increasing the life of the leather. The leather or other material is not afiected by the heat or steam, and does not deteriorate with age. It is not liable to crack or shrink or be otherwise affected from changes in the temperature or by dampness.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter appear, and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which, with the letters of reference marked thereon, form a part of this specification, and in which Figure 1 is a view partly in section and partly in elevation, with a portion broken away, showing one of my improved handles applied to the stem. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one of the handles before it is applied. Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing a difierent mode of applying the handle and showing also the asbestos layer.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Referring now to the details of the drawings byletter, A designates the handle, which, as seen in Figs. 1 and 2, is composed of a plurality of layers a of leather, vulcanized fiber, or other indurate material, in Figs. 1 and 2 being shown as four in number, while in Fig. 3 I have shown a handle composed of but two layers; but it is evident that the number of layers may be varied at will according to the character of the material and the size of the handle employed, without departing from the essence of the invention. These layers are placed one upon another and are held together by the metallic pins B, passed therethrough, as seen best in Fig. 1, and the bottom layer is provided with an annular socket or chamber 1) for the'reception of the disk or plate C on the valve-stem D.

In Figs. 1 and 2 the handle is shown as provided with the headed pins or rivets E, which are confined therein, being placed therein as the handle is built up, and the heads 6 thereof seated in suitable depressions in the outer face of one of the layers of the material, as clearly shown in Fig. 1, the other ends of the pins or rivets extending through the next to the bottom layer and into the socket or recess in the bottom layer, and in practice when the handle is to be applied to the stem these rivets are passed through suitable openings in the disk or plate 0 thereof and upset or headed or otherwise treated, so as to firmly hold the handle onto the disk or plate of the stem. In Fig. 1 the plate of the stem is shown as provided with a pin or extension F, while G is a plate or washer upon said pin or extension and seated in a recess or socket f in the outer face of the handle, and a nut H is applied to the threaded end of the pin or extension and bearing against said washer to further aid in holding the handle upon the disk or plate.

The handle may be otherwise applied, for instance, as seen in Fig. 3, wherein the pin and washer and nut of the stem are dispensed with and the disk secured within the socket of the handle by wood screws I or analogous means. In this figure the handle is shown as composed of but two layers of the material,

and in said View I have also shown a sheet or layer J of asbestos or analogous material, interposed between the plate or disk 0 of the same and the bottom wall of the socket or recess b in the handle, which serves to prevent heating and injury to the handle by the heat from the disk or plate of the stem. In some instances the pin or extension F of the same may be made separate therefrom and have its inner end screw-threaded to engage a threaded opening in the center of the disk or plate G, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1.

Various other methods of applying the handle may be devised and modifications in detail may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing any of its advantages.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. As an improved article of manufacture, a handle for gage-cocks, steam-valves and the like, formed of indurate material in layers secured together, and provided with rivets held within the body of the handle and extending through one side thereof and having a socket to receive a plate on a valve-stem; substantially as described.

2. As an improved article of manufacture, a handle for gage-cocks, steam-valves and the like, formed of indurate material in layers secured together, and having a socket to receive a plate on .a valve-stem, and rivets held within the body of the handle extending into said socket and a layer of asbestos interposed between said plate and the bottom wall of the socket; substantially as described.

3. As an improved article of manufacture, a handle for gage-cocks, valve-stems and the like, formed of layers of leather held together by pins, and having means held within the body of the handle for connecting the same to a valve-stem and having a socket to receive a plate on a valve-stem substantially as described.

4. As an improved article of manufacture, a handle for gage-cocks, valve-stems and the like, formed of layers of leather held together by pins, and having a socket to receive a plate on the valve-stem, and rivet-s having their heads held within the body of the handle, and projecting into said socket for attachment of the plate of the valve-stem substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT MCKEEVER. lVitnesses EDWARD RUHE, REUBEN J. BUTE. 

